Not expected as main referee, but Omar Al Ali from UAE managed to get a game at 2026 World Cup: New Zealand - Egypt.
Match #40
Group G
22 June 2026, 03:00 CET
BC Place, Vancouver
NEW ZEALAND - EGYPT
Referee: Omar Al Ali UAE
Assistant Referee 1: Mohamed Al-Hammadi UAE
Assistant Referee 2: Taleb Al-Marri QAT
Fourth Official: Kevin Ortega PER
Reserve AR: Michael Orue PER
Video Assistant Referee: Mohammed Khamid UAE
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 1 : Shaun Evans AUS
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 : Armando Villarreal USA
Very bad mouvements from ali
ReplyDeletepotential foul before ball is in play i think
ReplyDeleteMaybe offside
ReplyDeleteCorrect yc
ReplyDeleteCorrect yc again
ReplyDeleteAmateur ref this guy. Nowhere near good enough. The YC for Singh he was still showing when Egypt restarted the game
ReplyDeleteYep he didn't stop the game
DeleteYou can't let Egypt start an attack when you're still stowing a NZ player a yellow.
ReplyDeleteWrong corner given corrected by var
ReplyDeleteFrom the replay for me there is a foul before the ball is in play and with new VAR protocol that should have been reviewed imo.
ReplyDeleteThere cannot be a.foul if the ball is not in play
ReplyDeleteWith the new protocol if there is a foul before the ball is in play and a team score then VAR can review it and the decision is to retake the CK, or i didn't understand the new protocol.
DeleteNot the case here.
DeleteOn the first goal there is not a foul for you ?
DeleteFor me, maybe. Not for this tournament.
DeleteOmar Al Ali looked uncomfortable with almost every situation he had to deal with. Let's start with his positioning. the ball struck him once and easily could have hit him three or four more times throughout the match. He never appeared to establish authority. Almost every time he blew the whistle, players surrounded him with complaints, and instead of addressing them confidently, he often avoided eye contact, giving the impression that he was uncomfortable managing confrontation.
ReplyDeleteNormally, having a referee who shares a language with one of the teams can be an advantage in managing players and building rapport. However, that was not the case here. Egypt's players seemed increasingly comfortable protesting decisions, and New Zealand's players quickly followed the same approach.
The biggest concern came when he cautioned New Zealand 10 and then allowed play to restart without properly managing the restart procedure. After a caution, the restart should be clearly controlled with the whistle. It appeared he was reluctant to stop the attacking team and ensure everyone understood that play could only restart on his signal.
Overall, it was not a convincing performance.
Very disappointing for me to hear, haven’t been able to watch the match. Seems from the comments here that the occasion has seemed to overwhelm him. With all the preparation and the time put into this World Cup, all these details lacking from his performance is so disappointing. I feel let down.
DeleteI have watched small parts and seemed happy with foul recognition but all other aspects are just so disappointing from our federation.
So far! it just first Half
ReplyDeleteThe second half will be hot!!
DeleteHe got through 45 but it's really starting to heat up.
ReplyDeleteThe second half will be hot al Ali need to be more confident and take action with discent and sounding by players or he will lose control at some point
ReplyDeleteNot a referee of world cup standard
ReplyDeleteVery delayed whistle
ReplyDeleteNo count dir goal kick or throw
ReplyDeleteHe's done it multiple times
DeleteIn the1st half he let the New Zealand keeper taking the GK for at least 15s
DeleteYou’d think that someone on his team AR1, AR2, fourth official even reserve official might have reminded him?
DeleteMissed foul 50... Possible spa but unlikely
ReplyDeleteFouls given one way
ReplyDeleteThe level of fouls being called seems inconsistent
ReplyDeleteFor me, he has called some fouls early on and then decided later on in the match that it shouldn’t be considered a foul but then gone back to initial lower bar for fouls. Whereas many other referees have just gone with the high bar from early on and stuck with it throughout
DeleteThe ball is clearly in play when he stopped the game, what is that ?
ReplyDeleteAmateurisme
DeleteWhat he doing is acteur he saw the restart than stop the game give warning and the fk retaken
ReplyDeleteAmteur
DeleteAny referee can’t be this bad and consider as bad performance! It just lack of talent and quality and experience
DeleteBefore the ball go out to throw thas faoul with the standard we saw in this game
ReplyDeletePooooor appointment
+1
DeleteClear foul missed which lead to the goal; Poor from all officials to let the goal stand
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteI think the issue was that it was a subjective call in the lead up to the goal, in this tournament we have clearly seen minimal to no VAR intervention unless very clear. Hence the non intervention but can also argue, the ball gone out for throw-in and a new phase of play beginning, so another argument for non-intervention.
DeleteWith what we have seen during this World Cup, there should be no surprise that wasn’t called as a foul.
4th official allowing player to enter with wrong number on shorts compared to his shirt
ReplyDeleteThat is crazy for a World Cup game
DeleteWow, as if it couldn’t get worse for this referee team. A bit like the Haiti team, many will be saying “lucky it’s only New Zealand”
DeleteAlso there were 2 natural points for a water break to be taken and neither was used. Eitger Sub for NZL or after the EGY goal
ReplyDeleteThis is the worst performance in the tournament. He has surpassed Ghorbal, Bedia, and Atcho in poor officiating—quite simply, he deserves the title of the worst refereeing performance of the tournament.
ReplyDeleteGenuinely! This may be the worst Refereing performance of all time in world game. I can’t even describe one good aspect of him. He can’t help himself
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteI will blame who make the selection and the appointment not al Ali is clear is limited
ReplyDeleteAnd now New Zealand will likely start questioning the referee neutrality because he is Arab and was officiating an Arab team. That creates an unnecessary controversy and it leaves questions for Collina and Busacca about whether this was the best appointment for such a match.
ReplyDeleteWonder if they say it's "balanced" out by having Evans as AVAR given NZ and Australia's relationship both generally and footballing
DeleteIf we go down this rabbit hole, allocating referees will be impossible. Arab is an ethnolingual identity. Factoring in confederations is obvious, now we have to consider Race ? Religion ? Language ? A lot of French footballers have African ethnicity should no African referees officiate France matches? Elfath (conflicted with Concacaf & Africa) should also be conflicted with West Asian sides like Saudi Arabia , Qatar & Jordan?
DeleteSorry but this is a very bizzare position to take
I think you're taking my point further than I intended sarish. I'm not arguing that Arab referees are incapable of being neutral, nor that ethnicity, religion, or language should be treated as conflicts of interest.
DeleteMy point is much narrower, football already avoids certain appointments based on perception, not because FIFA believes referees are biased. Confederation separation exists largely to remove unnecessary controversy and questions before a ball is kicked.
If there are multiple equally qualified referees available, avoiding appointments that are likely to generate debate can be sensible from a competition management perspective. That doesn't mean the referee is conflicted it means the appointment itself may invite scrutiny that could have been avoided.
Personally, I I think you're taking my point further than I intended. I'm not arguing that Arab referees are incapable of being neutral, nor that ethnicity, religion, or language should be treated as conflicts of interest.
My point is much narrower: football already avoids certain appointments based on perception, not because FIFA believes referees are biased. Confederation separation exists largely to remove unnecessary controversy and questions before a ball is kicked.
If there are multiple equally qualified referees available, avoiding appointments that are likely to generate debate can be sensible from a competition-management perspective. That doesn't mean the referee is conflicted; it means the appointment itself may invite scrutiny that could have been avoided.
Personally, I don't think an Arab referee will favor an Arab team. I just think FIFA should be aware of how appointments will be perceived, just as they already are with confederation-based appointments. Collina should be aware of how appointments will be perceived, just as they already are with confederation based appointments.
It’s always the case as a referee, it’s the perception which they try to avoid even if it’s so far away from reality. I think it was a smart call to pick an AFC referee to referee match from OFC vs AFCON team, especially with the sharing need for both English and Arabic for these teams.
DeleteI feel like they felt they didn’t need such a high profile referee for the match (definitely don’t think this referee could have been assigned to other matches) so maybe they thought he would suit this match. Unfortunately the performance has been below what is expected.
@Chefren why weren’t you expecting him as the main referee?
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